


Nail in the Coffin

by SirKarma



Category: Sword Art Online
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-25
Updated: 2015-09-25
Packaged: 2018-04-23 07:37:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4868627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SirKarma/pseuds/SirKarma
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>OOC!Kirito. Prepare for the Aincrad you knew to get shaken up, turned on its head, in all its new dark, violent glory! Something i thought up one day wondering what would happen if Kirito was still the OP character we knew, but with his morals and good guy attitude torn away from him by some....horrific event? Kind of AU-ish, kirito meets people at different points than canon, and the characters can actually feel pain in game.. Basically a darker, grittier, more realistic Aincrad (and no the irony of a 'realistic' fantasy story of an anime about a nonexistant game is not lost on me...)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Nail in the Coffin

**Hey everyone, firstly, i wanted to apologize for posting not even the first full chapter of this story, then abandoning it for 5 months. Life gets hectic sometimes, and hobbies like writing get pushed to the back burner, or forgotten entirely, which im ashamed to say i did with this story. However, ill be starting it back up again! This time im going to try and get a decent bit of this story out there.**

**Knowing myself, this will probably run longer than i originally planned, and hopefully no crisis appears like last time to divert my attention. Although i'd say getting laid off from your job isnt too common, so shouldnt be any worries there. Anyways, ive rambled enough, on to the fic!**

November 26, 2023 3:15 PM  
Aincrad: Town of Beginnings; 1st floor

《Upgrade Unsucessful: Anneal Blade +7》  
"Damn it, not again! That makes nine fails in a row...." Kirito sighed and closed the menu with an irritated swipe. "Looks like im grinding tonight." He turned to head back out to the West Plains when he heard an exasperated cry from nearby.

"You gotta be kidding me! I need SEVEN Alpha Boar Tusks for my next upgrade? I had enough trouble getting the three i needed for the last two upgrades!"

Kirito snickered lightly to himself turning around to see a boy around his age, possibly a bit younger, with dirty blond hair covered with a grey beanie. Apparently the boy was rather sharp, as Kirito's amusment and gaze were quickly noticed.

"Hey man, mock me all you want, but those boars are tough! And the drop rate is so low!" The boy said in a fake-angry tone, dramatically pointing at Kirito.

Kirito raised his hands in surrender and shook his head, "Sorry, not mocking, i know your pain all too well. I've gone through plenty of them myself, I've had about 10 failed upgrades that need those damn tusks today."

The boy winced, "Ouch. Must've cost a pretty penny too. Hey, since you need more of the same mats i do, how about we party up for a bit, eh? Whoever gets a drop keeps it, and split the Col 50/50?"

Kirito frowned thoughtfully. True it could be useful to have someone draw aggro, as well as put out a bit of extra DPS, and the boy's terms were fair. 'Ahh, why not i guess it couldnt hurt anything really...' he thought to himself.

"Sure, why not?" He finally said.

"Sweet! The legendary treasure hunter Ducker here, at your service!" The boy, now identified as Ducker, gave an exaggerated bow, before accepting the party request Kirito had sent.

"Nice to meet you Ducker, I'm Kirito. Let's go kill us some oversized pigs." Kirito replied, shaking Ducker's hand with a small smile.

\----------------

Several hours later, Ducker flopped to the ground with an exhausted groan as yet another Alpha Boar exploded into polygons. Kirito was honestly surprised at how good the laid back Ducker was with his dagger. He had been expecting to have to do most of the work, but was pleasantly surprised when the self-proclaimed treasure hunter had managed to keep pace with him.

"Nice work Ducker, let's call it a day and head back. I'd say we made about 3500 Col apice, pretty impressive for just the first floor." Kirito winced, realizing that had made him sound like he'd been in the beta.

"Wow, really?" Ducker's face lit up at that before his eyebrow rose in a questioning manner, "Wait, does that mean you've been to other floors? Like a beta tester?"

Kirito flinched inwardly. 'Damn it, why can't i ever NOT put my foot in my mouth?' He waited for the hate speech that was sure to follow. Ever since the second week of the death game had started, many players began fostering an intense hatred of the beta testers, believing they'd abandoned the new players, and taken all the best quests and training spots for themselves. Which wasn't entirely off the mark in Kirito's case, but he didn't regret anything. It was necessary for his survival, but in this case, Kirito thought a little misdirection was in order. Or failing that, a flat out lie.

"Uh, no I haven't. I just usually dont get as much when running solo. Working in groups seems to be more efficient i suppose."

Ducker seemed to buy it, about to say something then jumped slightly and focused his sight off to the left. Kirito realized he'd probably gotten a PM or something. Ducker adjusted his beanie and grinned sheepishly.

"I tell you, that chiming noise when you get a PM still startles me sometimes." Ducker's grin turned into a look of terror as he read the PM, "Crap, its already 8:30? Ohhhhh man, the guys aren't gonna be happy im late for dinner....again."

He turned to look at Kirito, "Hey, that reminds me, you should swing by our inn, food and drinks are on me for helping me out today!"

Kirito shifted uncomfortably, "I dunno Ducker, your friends might not want some random guy just showing up...." Ducker interrupted him before he could think of another excuse.

"Trust me, they're awesome! We're all a part of the same computer club IRL, so I know them all pretty well. Ah, don't feel put out though, I'm sure you'll fit right in!"

Kirito nodded, "I guess a free meal couldn't hurt." He said with a small smile.

\-----------------------------------

As Kirito approached the inn nearly half an hour later, he recognized it as one he'd stayed in often during the beta. It was small but homey, with decent food and most importantly, cheap.

"Here we are Kirito, home sweet home!" Ducker called out, breaking the swordsman from his thoughts. "This place might be small, but its not so bad when you get used to it."

Kirito just nodded, mildly apprehensive of the people he was being forced to meet. ' _Forced_ would be putting it a bit excessively' he mused while followng Ducker, 'I wonder what exactly it is that makes me avoid others so avidly...' 

Before he could continue that particular train of thought, he was once again snapped back to reality by the table of people in front of him. Blinking in surprise, he realized Ducker had already explained his presence and was waiting for Kirito to introduce himself.

"Ahh, sorry, I spaced out there a bit, I'm Kirito, nice to meet you all." He said in a monotone, not really caring if it sounded sincere.

Two members of the group shared a glance before introducing themselves.

"Name's Keita, and I'm the leader of this little group of misfits." A boy said with a wink and smile to his friends, letting them know he was kidding. Kirito took in his appearance; short brown hair and simple brown tunic, along with just as simple chestplate with spaulders, a basic two handed staff next to him at the table.

"I'm Tetsuo!" Said another energetically. He wore similar equipment as Keita, however with a purple tunic with longer, more unkempt hair, and a small kite shield with mace strapped to his back.

"Sasamaru." The third grunted, with a green themed outfit, oddly shaped blue hat, and a spear.

"And I um- I mean, my name i-is Sachi." Said the final member of their group, a shy, yet cute girl. She had shoulder length hair with a blue-ish hue, dark enough to nearly be black. Her outfit, unsurprisingly, was mainly various hues of blue, with a small chestpiece meant to allow the user more mobility than protection. Resting next to her was a rather large two handed spear. 

Kirito looked around at all of them as they introduced themselves, nodding at each of them in order. When his eyes met Sachi's however, he did a slight double-take. What he saw there was abject fear, and perhaps a resignation to her probable end in this death game. When he realized this, he felt a slight twinge in his chest. 'It's honestly sad, to see what this world has already done to those trapped in it. Damn you Kayaba, you  _will_ pay for this. For what you've done to her, and all of us.'

He gave a slight start as he realized where his thoughts were going. Sure Kayaba deserved to pay for this, but what about this girl he'd only just met that brought about these emotions? Kirito shook his head. It didn't matter why, at least not at the moment.

He pushed aside his thoughts and sat down at the table, making idle small talk with the group before him. Before long, he found himself enjoying their company, joining into the conversation a little more, and for the first time since entering Aincrad, Kirito focused on something other than grinding. Maybe he wouldn't mind hanging out with them from time to time...

\--------------------

**EDIT (2/25/16): And here we finally are, with a finished first chapter! I could have gone on longer i suppose, i just wasn't sure exactly how to continue it with what i have planned. I know i said in the summary this would be a dark story, and it will be. Just got to have the introductory stuff and set up out of the way. Next chapter will also be mild, but after that, its gonna get dark. Quickly. Regarding update schedule, its going to be completely random. Sorry guys, but thats just how i work. Ill try not to leave too long of a gap, *HOWEVER* this will be on a TEMPORARY hiatus while i get some additional content written out. I currently have literally nothing but this chapter written. Writing fanfiction is a hell of a lot harder than i originally thought it'd be.**

**Also, there won't really be any actual pairings in this, but Kirito x Sachi will be teased a bit. Mainly cause it works with my story better, and KiriSuna is totally overshipped anyways. Not to mention being canon, so theres no fun in that!**

**Anyways, before i drone on too long, i hope this is enjoyable so far :) any constructive criticism woulf be awesome, but please no flaming. That really accomplishes nothing. Also keep in mind that yes, im writing and posting this on a PHONE. So there's bound to be a few more spelling/grammar issues than if i was on a pc. Peace, Karma out!**


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